The Visual Kei scene in Japan often has its own language, so it's good to know a handful of important terms before going to a concert.
General Terms
Bangya - バンギャ - "band girl"; a fan of visual kei that goes to lives fairly often; her life often revolves around her favorite band(s).
Jouren - 常連 - fans that go to most, if not all, lives for their favorite band and often dominate the first row; many jouren will not go to a live if they are not guaranteed a spot in first row.
Douin - 動員 - these are fans that go to most (sometimes all) lives of a certain band. They differ from jouren in that they don't have saizen every time.
Honmei - 本命 - lit. "favorite", this can refer to your favorite band or your favorite bandmember
Ensei - 遠征 - to travel a long distance for a band
Furitsuke - ふりつけ - often referred to simply as "furi", these are the handmovements, types of headbanging, and other things that bangya will do in time to a band's songs. For types of furi, check out this blog post.
Kaijou - 会場 - venue/livehouse
Hako - 箱 - lit. "box", this is a slang term for a small venue.
Saizen - 最前 - first row
__ Retsu - __列 - __ row. (i.e. niretsu, 二列, second row)
Gyakusaizen - 逆最前 - often referred to as just "gyakusai", this is the very back row.
Kamite - 上手 - the right side of the venue
Shimote - 下手 - the left side of the venue
Senta- - センター - the center of the venue
Dorinkudai - ドリンク代 - the amount you must pay a venue upon entering in order to get a drink later; this is how venues make extra money from concerts; usually 500 or 600 yen.
Kuro-ku - クローク - cloak/bag check
Koin Rokka- - コインロッカー - coin lockers
Toujitsuken - 当日券 - day-of tickets sold at the venue's ticket office
__banme - ＿番目 - the order in which a band will play at an event live. example: if there are 6 bands, and the band you want to see is third, they would be "sanbanme" (三番目). To ask what number your band will be: "(bandname) wa nanbanme desu ka?" (バンドは何番目ですか？). Most of the time, someone will know, but not always. O.A. - O.A. - opening act.
Toppa- - トッパー - "topper", or the first band to play at an event live; this does not necessarily mean they are an "opening act"
Tori - トリ - the last band to play at an event live
Torimae - トリ前 - the second to last band to play at an event live
Kaiinshou - 会員証 - member ID, usually refers to a fanclub card; often asked for at fanclub-only events.
Seiribango - 整理番号 - lit. "reference number", this just means the number on your ticket.
Hitoketa - 一桁 - single digit ticket (numbers 1-9)
Niketa - 二桁 - double digit ticket (numbers 10-99)
Sanketa - 三桁 - triple digit ticket (numbers 100-999)
Omiate - お見当て - the band you have come to see at an event live; when you go to a live with more than one band, at the front door when they take your ticket, they will ask you who your "omiate" is, and you respond with one band you came to see. This is how they split up ticket sales.
Saku - 柵 - a bar usually placed in front of saizen to separate fans from the stage; there can be other saku throughout a livehouse, such as at Takadanobaba Area where there are actually three saku. Larger venues, like Zepp livehouses, can have upwards of 5 rows of saku. Second saku is called "nisaku" (二柵), third saku is called "sansaku" (三柵), and so on.
Bashotori - 場所取り - lit. "take a spot", this means to place a bag or towel in a spot to save it for a friend who is coming in later than you. The most common example of this is girls saving spots on nisaku in venues for their friends who have ticket numbers worse than theirs. It is against the rules at some venues and lives, and is sometimes frowned upon in bangya-world, but it is a very common practice. Another way to bashotori for a friend is to spread your legs out in a wide stance, so they can squeeze in next to you later. (NOTE: It is fairly looked down upon to bashotori at one-man lives, but its pretty much accepted at event lives. While bashotori on nisaku and throughout venues is common, it is NEVER acceptable to bashotori in saizen!)
Buppan - 物販 - the area where goods are being sold.
Cheki - チェキ - polaroids of bandmembers sold at buppan.
Types of Lives
Taiban - 対バン - a live with multiple bands
Event Live - イベントライブ - essentially the same as taiban
Shuusai - 主催 - a live put on by a band or record label
One-man - ワンマン - a live for a single band
Two-man - ツーマン - a live with two bands
Three-man - スリーマン - a live with three bands
Four-man - フォーマン - a live with four bands
Countdown - カウントダウン - a live played on New Year's Eve that usually ends at or after midnight.
Saizen Terms
For more information about dealing with saizen, please see this blog post.
Koujin Kosho - 個人交渉 - lit. "personal negotiations"; this is when each spot in saizen is run by different people.
Shikiri - 仕切り - this is one or two people who run saizen at event lives and make sure that transitions between bands go smoothly.
Domae - ド前 - the spots exactly in front of band members
Dosen - ドセン - the spot in saizen that is exactly the center of the row, right in front of the vocalist.
__wari - __割 - the "wari" of a venue means how many people can fit into saizen. For example, if a venue is 4割, then 4 people can fit on either side of the person in dosen, meaning 4 people will be on shimote (left), one person will be in dosen, and 4 people will be on kamite. To ask for the wari, as it can change based on the band or number of people at a live, you can say: "nanwari?" (何割？) Shimo__ / Kami__ - 下＿ / 上＿ - These are numbered spots on other side of dosen. For example, the spot to dosen's left is Shimo1, and the spot on the left of Shimo1 is Shimo2. For an easier to understand diagram, please visit the post linked above about saizen.
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